Virgin America Flight Attendant Dances Before Safety Video Retirement
A clip of a dancing flight attendant, with all the right moves, has gone viral in a heart-warming final performance. In an enthusiastic routine, Virgin America steward, Mikey Tongko-Burry, danced along to the airline’s instructional safety video, much to the delight of passengers.
In a heartfelt tweet, Tongko-Burry said, “So many thoughts and emotions as I gave my last performance of the VX Safety Demo this afternoon. It’s been a wild and crazy Virgin America ride. Love you all for sharing this journey with me.”
It’s not the first time Tongko-Burry, who moonlights as an ice-skating coach, has put his best foot forward in the cabin aisles. Earlier this year, he posted another video of him lip syncing and dancing along to Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’, aided by a rainbow ribbon.
Tongko-Burry also revealed his devotion for the brand and its CEO, Richard Branson, on his Twitter page, which features pictures of him with the Virgin boss.
“As I work my last flights wearing the Virgin America Uniform (by this time next week I’ll be in the Alaska Blue), feeling nostalgic about the amazing moments VX has given me,” he wrote.
Branson tweeted his approval of the dance, acknowledging “the passion, wonderful service and sense of fun that teammates continue to bring to our airlines.” In response, Tongko-Burry described the Virgin chief as his “idol.”
At the time of press, the clip had been viewed more than 19,000 times and retweeted nearly 4,000 times. Tongko-Burry’s performance also made an impact with his new employers, Alaska Airlines, who tweeted their approval, adding, “It was a beautiful performance! #ThankYou.”
Alaska Airlines made the headlines for all the wrong reasons on 31 July 2018 when a member of cabin crew asked a gay couple to move seats so a heterosexual couple could be seated together. The carrier has since apologized for the incident, saying it has a “zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind.”
